I just meausred an offcut, and it is 2.5. Black is 2.3 and an off cut of red measures 3.1.

Ive heard the diameter can vary.

you wasent playing a carp when you measured it was you? lol.

@Rad wrote:

cheers nick but surely the purple should be thicker than the black if its the next size up? just trying to clarify before i take it back.

Yes it should be thicker of course.

Sounds like you have an off cut from the start of the process of making the hydro elastic. In the white and black hydro. Thats the stuff that many anglers want and the sponsored anglers normally ask for. It performs much better than the standard hydro elastic especially in the white. Not come across it in the purple. Im not sure how your purple will perform when compared to a standard black or purple hydro elastic. However, based on the white and black off cuts that i have used. I would give it a go in your pole. The worst that you have is another black hydro that looks purple. Try doing a stretch test against a standard purple and black hydro. I suspect you might get some interesting results.